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Open Library

Connect to Open Library using the Wolfram Language to retrieve information about books.

Connecting & Authenticating

ServiceConnect["OpenLibrary"] creates a connection to the Open Library API. If a previously saved connection can be found, it will be used; otherwise, a new authentication request will be launched.

Requests

ServiceExecute["OpenLibrary","request",params] sends a request to the Open Library API, using parameters params. The following give possible requests.

Search Books

"BookSearch" — search books by title or author

Parameters:
  • "Query"Nonequery string
    "Author"Noneauthor name
    "Title"Nonebook title
    "Subject"Nonesubject
    MaxItems100maximum number of items returned
    "StartIndex"0start index

    • Book Information

    "BookSummary" — information about a single book edition

    "BookInformation" — information about readable versions of a single book edition

    Parameters:
  • "BibKeys"(required)key(s) identifying specific book edition(s)
    "ShowThumbnails"Falsewhether to include cover thumbnail in results

    • "BookText" — full text of a book

    Parameters:
  • "BibKeys"(required)key(s) identifying specific book edition(s)

    • Examples

    Basic Examples  (1)

    Create a new connection to Open Library:

    Wolfram Language code: openlibrary = ServiceConnect["OpenLibrary"]

    Search books by author:

    Wolfram Language code: resultsByAuthor = openlibrary["BookSearch", <|"Author" -> "Kurt Vonnegut", MaxItems -> 20, "StartIndex" -> 5|>]

    Analyze data from search results:

    Wolfram Language code: Tally@DeleteMissing@Flatten[Normal@resultsByAuthor[All, "Language"]]
    Wolfram Language code: DateListPlot[Tally@DeleteMissing@resultsByAuthor[[All, "FirstPublishYear"]], Joined -> False, Filling -> Bottom]

    Get information on a specific edition of a book:

    Wolfram Language code: openlibrary["BookInformation", {"BibKeys" -> { "OLID", "OL12580254M" }, "ShowThumbnails" -> True}]
    Wolfram Language code: openlibrary["BookSummary", {"BibKeys" -> {"OLID", "OL13996678M"}, "ShowThumbnails" -> True}]

    Get the full text of a book:

    Wolfram Language code: text = openlibrary["BookText", {"BibKeys" -> {{"OLID", "OL13996678M"}}}];
    Wolfram Language code: StringTake[text[1], {2285, 3063}]